Brean Leisure Park
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Brean Leisure Park is an
amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
in the coastal resort of
Brean Brean is a village and civil parish between Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, England. The name is derived from "Bryn" Brythonic and Modern Welsh for a hill and it has a population of 635. Close to the village is Brean Down, a pro ...
, near
Burnham-on-Sea Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort. ...
,
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...
, England. The park covers an area of . Open from March to November every year, the leisure park has also been a concert venue for artists such as
DJ Casper Willie Perry Jr. (born May 31, 1971), best known as DJ Casper, is an American DJ and songwriter. Perry Jr. was raised in Englewood, Chicago, and is known as Casper because he almost always wears white clothing on stage. He is also known as Mr. C ...
,
Peter Andre Peter Andre (born Peter James Andrea, 27 February 1973) is an English-Australian singer and television personality of Australian descent. Andre gained popularity as a singer, best known for his singles "Mysterious Girl" and " Flava". He is als ...
,
Jason Donovan Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968) is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap ''Neighbours'', playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 m ...
and
The Wurzels The Wurzels are an English Scrumpy and Western band from Somerset, England, best known for their number one hit "The Combine Harvester" and number three hit "I Am a Cider Drinker" in 1976. They are known for using British West Country phrase ...
. Sky filmed an episode of '' Brainiac: Science Abuse'' entitled "Funfair Physics" at the park. An episode of
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
TV series ''
Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
'' was also filmed there in 2007 and again 2013. And an episode of
CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 7–16 ...
TV series ''
The Sparticle Mystery ''The Sparticle Mystery'' is a British science fiction television series written and created by Alison Hume and produced by Sparticles Productions for CBBC. The series follows a group of ten children within modern Britain, where an experiment ...
'' was filmed of the titled of the episode The FunFair. In 1997 there was location filming for
Rosie and Jim ''Rosie and Jim'' (sometimes written as ''Rosie & Jim'') is a British children's television programme which was produced by Ragdoll Productions and aired on ITV from 3 September 1990 to 16 May 2000. The programme was then repeated periodical ...
of the characters riding a Merry-go-Round.


History


1946 - 1970s

In 1946 Albert and Marie House bought Unity Farm, and for the next 30 years operated it primarily as a dairy farm with a herd of 140 cows. They later supplied the local area with milk that was bottled on the farm. As far back as 1946 camping was a popular past time and Fry's Chocolate Factory from
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
pitched large tents on three fields on Unity Farm for a two-week period during the summer so therefore their employees could have a holiday by the seaside such as local areas being
Brean Brean is a village and civil parish between Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, England. The name is derived from "Bryn" Brythonic and Modern Welsh for a hill and it has a population of 635. Close to the village is Brean Down, a pro ...
, Berrow and
Burnham-on-sea Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort. ...
. The way Holiday Resort Unity is at present age started from this very stage and it wasn't long before many groups of people including the local Boy's Brigade Troops were coming to Brean to venture and have holidays. In 1948 planning permission was granted to change the use of some of the farm land to caravans and camping and 20 acres was converted prior for this use. However, during the 1950s and 1960s caravan and camping became a bigger part of Unity Farm (presently known as Holiday Resort Unity) and slowly the number of
cows Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
,
pigs The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...
and
sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticate ...
decreased.


1970s - 1980s

During the 1970s and the 1980s the beginnings of Brean Leisure Park were created along with the Mid Somerset Golf Centre which included Target Golf, driving range, pitch and putt and also an 8-hole golf course was opened alongside the other features. Throughout the years additional recreational activities were created which included a swimming pool, donkey derby's and open air markets. A
greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tr ...
track was opened on 3 July 1975. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the
National Greyhound Racing Club The National Greyhound Racing Club was an organisation that governed Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom. History The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) was formed in 1928 and this body would be responsible for regulation, licensing and the ...
) and was known as a flapping track, which was the nickname given to independent tracks. Brean Leisure Park as a whole was now attracting a lot of visitors from
South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
,
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
and
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
and in the late 1970s the House family bought out all of the other directors so that they could concentrate on developing leisure and holiday facilities. The 8 hole golf course was expanded so that it could host 18 holes and Brean Golf Club was created. The course hosted a number of pro and celebrity amateur tournaments as well as becoming a members club and a facility for holiday guests. In 1980 the complex known today as the 'Tavern' was opened and was previously known as the 'Farmers Tavern' providing a venue for evening family entertainment, functions and weddings. The complex also included an Amusement arcade and Fast Food outlets. The greyhound track closed on 12 March 1984 and to improve the look of the park a significant landscaping project was undertaken across both Brean Leisure Park and Unity Farm (presently known as Holiday Resort Unity).


1990s

Further facilities were added during the 1990s including a river type ride at the Swimming Pool complex (presently known as Brean Splash) and also the addition of two
Ten-Pin Bowling Ten-pin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The objective is to knock down all ten pins on the first roll ...
lanes at Unity Farm (Holiday Resort Unity) in 1994.


2000 - 2010

In 2000 one of the biggest projects that the resort took on since it had first opened its doors began, and this was the RJ's Entertainment complex which was a one million investment in the resort. The American-themed venue replaced Bert's bar and Chicks Roost with a venue with a capacity of approximately 700 people. In 2008 it became the home of
Sooty Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in 1955, with the ...
,
Sweep Sweep or swept may refer to: Cleaning * Sweep, the action of using a brush to clean * Chimney sweep, a worker who clears ash and soot from chimneys * Street sweeper, a person's occupation, or a machine that cleans streets * Swept quartz, a cleani ...
and Soo, when
Richard Cadell Richard Cadell (born 23 March 1969) is a British illusionist, puppeteer, actor and screenwriter, best known for being the in-vision presenter and the hand of puppet Sooty since succeeding Matthew Corbett in 1998. He is a Gold Star Member of th ...
bought the rights from
HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (commonly written as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sop ...
. On Friday 18/7/2014 the park was sold to a family from Barry Island in South Wales.


Current Main Attractions


Notable Past Rides


Gallery

Image:Wild water flume ride at Brean lesuire park.jpg, Image:Hellraiser ride at Brean Leisure Park.jpg, Image:Xtreme ride at Brean Leisure Park.jpg, Image:Brean6.jpg, Image:Caterpillar roller coaster at Brean Leisure Park.jpg, Image:Exterior of Terror Castle ride at Brean Leisure Park.jpg, Image:Sizzler ride - Brean Leisure Park.jpg,


Brean Splash

Brean Splash is a waterpark owned and managed by Holiday Resort Unity under the Brean Leisure Park branding. In 2014 Brean Splash made a £2 Million (GBP) investment on a brand new indoor splash aspect of the waterpark which has been operating since summer 2014.


References


External links


Official site
{{British theme parks Amusement parks in England Sedgemoor Tourist attractions in Somerset 1970s establishments in England Buildings and structures in Sedgemoor